Google faces long battle in EU antitrust case

Google probably faces a lengthy process in challenging antitrust claims brought by the European Union, but the Internet search giant might be able to avoid paying hefty fines or making big changes to its business.

"I don't think this is going to lead to some draconian effect" for Google, said David Balto, an antitrust lawyer in Washington and former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission. Still, Google has its work cut out in countering European regulators' claims that the company is abusing its online-search prominence to the detriment of its rivals, antitrust experts said. The case, "is a very big deal," said Jonathan Handel, a lawyer at Century City law firm TroyGould. "They're looking at a big fight," Handel said of Google, and "they're facing large numbers" in terms of potential fines if a settlement can't be reached. In the Google case, "the process in Europe could end up taking a long time, though it is always possible that Google and the European Commission will reach a negotiated resolution," said Robert M. Cooper, an antitrust lawyer with the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Washington. But Balto said his reading of the EU's complaint "shows there isn't that much of a gap between the approach to running the system that Google has and what the EU is looking for." "They're not looking for a way to break up Google or to regulate its [search] algorithm," he said. "What they're seeking is a system to make sure that the best results are properly displayed" for both consumers and Google's rivals.